Message from the Chair: Dr. Jodie O’Gorman

Fall Semester 2017 has come and gone, final grades are in, and MSU is under a blanket of snow. It was a busy and exciting semester. As I reported in the last newsletter, Dr. Fredy Rodriguez-Mejia joined the faculty in August as an undergraduate teaching-focused Assistant Professor. This fall he organized the First Annual Anthropology Undergraduate Symposium and Showcase, and it was a fantastic success. On December 7th, twenty undergraduate students with posters or PowerPoint presentations talked with faculty, graduate students, fellow undergraduates, family and friends about their research. They filled the Erickson Kiva and the excitement in the room about doing anthropology was palpable. We are definitely making this an annual event and I hope it will draw even more students and supporters in the future. Other changes are in the air as well. We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Stacey Camp to the faculty (see story on page 5). Dr. Camp will be taking over the Campus Archaeology Program as Dr. Lynne Goldstein, founder of that program, retires in 2018. We have also started the search process for an environmental archaeologist to round out the archaeology program as Dr. William Lovis retires in August 2018. The department has also hired Dr. Marcy Hessling-O’Neil (2012 PhD), who teaches in anthropology and advises in the Peace and Justice Studies Program, to provide grant support for our faculty and graduate students. Grants are critical for the success of our faculty and graduate students, and there are some exceptional examples of this kind of work in this newsletter. Also important for enriching the research and learning opportunities in the department is the generous support provided by our alumni and others through your generosity. We now have several targeted giving funds, please see the descriptions of these on page 6 and consider how you could help our students realize their passion in anthropology.